Airship



March 23 ,1926. 1,578,069

" J. E. BROYLES AIRSHIP A Filed April 9, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l March 23 1926.

J. E. BROYLES AIRSHIP Fledpril 9, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

K wis Patented Mar. 23, 1926.

UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

.JOHN ENLOE BROYLES, OF COCO SOLO, CANAL ZONE, ASSIGNOR vOF ONE-HALF TO H. E. ROBERTSON AND T. H. WEILER, BOTH OF RUSSELLVILLE, MISSOURI.

AIRSHIP.

i Application ined April 9, 1925. serial No. 21,873.

To all whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN E. BRoYLEs, a citizen of thek United States, residing at Coco Solo, Canal Zone, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in an Airship, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to an air ship of the lighter than air type, andhas for its principal object to provide a novel assemblage of power plants on the air ship.

Other objects of the invention are to provide an assemblage whereby the power 0r pull of -the propeller to be exerted at any angle desirable or at all angles without any power loss such as is occasioned by a swlvel propeller due to gears, drive shafts, etc.; an assemblage which enables the installation or removal of an engine with the minimum amount of labor and inconvenience; an assemblage which reduces the fire hazard 'in the case of use on lighter than air craft by engine being installed outside-of hulls or gas. envelopes where all s arks, etc. are carried away bythe force o air from the propeller; which permits of installation at points on the airship where the force of wind from the ropeller is not exerted againstthe airshlp when th prime mover is being used to help the airship to ascend vertically, thereby gaining more lift power; which permits the full horsepower of the prime mover installed for the purpose of driving "the propeller to be used as an additional sourceof lift to the airship; which permits the full horsepower of the prime mover installed on it with the propeller to be used in forcing the airship to descend vertically or at any other angle; which per- 40 mits the guiding of the airship at any desired angle while still maintaining a level keel which will be of great advantage and comfortv for assengers of commercial airships 4of the uture; which does away with ,the necessity of carrying tons of water ballast for maintaining the airships` equilibrium, thereby increasing theuseful carrying capacityof the airship to a very profitable extent; which permits an airship to take olf vertically when loaded until heavier than -.air; which permits the navi.- gator to steer a straight course spite of cross winds to the direction of the fiight; which permits the navigator or pilot to hover over a spot desirable for dropping an anchor or bomb; which enables the air ship trolled by the-minimum engineer force.

'A still further object of the invention is to provide a propellingdevice which is eX- ceedingly simple in construct-ion, easy to manipulate vand control, eficient and reliable, not liable to readily getJ out of order,

strong, durable, and otherwise well adapted to the purpose for which it is designed.

With the above and numerous other 0b- ]ects in view as will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in certain novel features of construction, and in the combination and `arrangement of parts as will be` hereinafter more fully described and claimed. 1

In the drawing Figure l is a side elevation of an airship showing my improved ed thereon.

Figure 2 is a detail elevation of onev of the power plants.

Figure 3 is a vertical section therethrough.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the stationary member thereof, and

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view showing the control for a group of the propelling structures.

Referring to the be seen that l designatesthe envelope of the air ship. having the usual freight or passenger compartment or compartments 2 suspended therebelow. My improvement conipower plants mountdrawing in detail, it will sists in mounting a lplurality of propellerv i tively. A plurality of braces 11 are connected to'thetop portion of the hub 8, radiate therefrom and incline downwardly t0 be fixed to the ring 6. Asleeve 13 is disposed in the hub to rotate thereln and is provided at its upper end with' a bearing race .14 which cooperates with the race 9 forholding suitable `sprocket 1G is suitably mounted 0n the sleeve 13 so that upon rotation thereof the sleeve will also be'rotated. A pair of arms 17 extend upwardly trom the upper end of thesleeve 13 and receive rotatably therebetween a suitable prime mover 18 by means of pintles 19 journaled in bearings 20. The prime mover shown in the drawing is in the form of an electric-motor, but of course any other prime mover may be substituted therefor without departing from the spirit of this invention. A shaft 21 projects rearwardlv from the prime mover 8 and has journaled thereon an anti-friction roller 22 if desired,

which is movable between arcuate guides 23.

extending from the upper end of the' sleeve 13. These guides 23 are connected at their upper ends as at 24. A suit-able propeller 25 is operatively mounted on the prime mover 18.

A pair of cables 26 and 27 extend through the sleeve 13. The cable 26 is attached to the forward end of the prime mover 18 while the-cable 2T is attached to the rear end thereof or to the shaft 21. rlhus, by pulling these cables 26 and 27 the primemover may vbe swung about its transverse axis 1n a vertical plane. A chain 28 is trained over the sprocket 16 so that the sleeve 13 may be rotated andv the prime mover rotated horizontally.

By way of example', in Figure 5, I have illustrated diagrammatically a systemwhereby two or more of the prime movers may be operated together, the cables 26 and 27 being connected about the sprocket of av steering wheel 2S)v by means ot a chain section 30. Thesevcables are trained over suitable pulleys 31 mounted -at the lower end of the sleeve 13. cable sections 33 which in turn are connected to 4a chain section 3st which is trained about a sprocket operable by the steering wheel Thus it will be seen that by operation of wheels 29 and 34, two of the prime movers may be adj usted as to boththeir vertical and horizontal aries as may be desirable. It is further apparent that this arrangement inay-be multiplied to include as many prime movers as-may be desired. This grouping of the control of the prime movers will be governed entirely by the size, nat-ure, and other features of the airship.

lith this invention it will be seen thatl the force of the propeller may be utilized in all different maneuvers of the airship,

y bot-h in ascending, descending, moving forwardly, moving sidewise, and in compensating for cross winds and the like.v Practically any maneuver. whatsoever may be made T'he chain 28 is connected to Having thus described my invention, what I claimas new is 1. In comb1nat1on, a base, a hub extending 4from the base, a sleeve rotatable in the hub, arms projecting upwardly from the sleeve, a prime mover rotatable between the arms, a pair of guides, an extension disposed on the prime mover between the guides, said guides being attached to saidsleeve, means for revolving the prime mover in the arms, means for revolving the sleeve, and a propeller operatively connected to the prime mover.

2.In combination, a hub, a sleeve rotatable in the hub, arms projecting upwardly from the sleeve, a lprime mover rotatable between the arms, a pair of guides, an extension disposed on the prime mover between the guides, said guides being attached to saidsleeve, means for revolving the prime mover in the arms, means for revolving the sleeve in the hub, and a propeller operatively connected to the prime mover.

3. In combination, a hollow hub,a sleeve rotatable in the hub, a prime mover rotatable on the sleeve, means for rotating the sleeve, and flexible members passing through the sleeve and having their ends attached to the prime mover.

4. In combination, a hollow hub, a sleeve rotatable in the hub, a prime mover rotatable on the sleeve, means for rotating the'sleeve, and flexible members passing through the sleeve and having their ends attache-d tothe prime mover, and guide pulleys mounted in the sleeve for receiving the flexible members.

5. In combination, a rotatable supporting member of hollow construction, an arm projecting therefrom, a prime mover rotatable on the arm, a guide .projecting from the rotatable member, a projection on the prime 4mover and movable in guiding association 7. ln combination, a supporting member, hollow supporting member and engaged means for rotating the supporting member, with the prime mover in order that it may a prime mover rotatable on the supporting be rotated in respect to the supporting mem- 10 member, said supporting member being of loer, and a propeller operatively connected 5 hollow construction and provided with a With the prime mover.

plurality of pulleys mounted therein, a In testimony whereof ll aiix my signature. cable trained over the pulleys through thev JOHN ENLOE BROYLES. 

